Monticello board revokes controversial pay contract

MONTICELLO — The Village Board has rescinded the contract that Code Enforcement Officer James Snowden got in March.

BY NATHAN BROWN

MONTICELLO — The Village Board has rescinded the contract that Code Enforcement Officer James Snowden got in March.

He still is code enforcement officer, but the board Tuesday night voided the contract that guaranteed him two years' pay.

The board decided to move his office back to Village Hall from the Ted Stroebele Recreation Center and end his short-lived dual role of both code officer and manager of the building and parks.

The previous board voted March 11 on a resolution combining the two departments under Snowden, but Trustee Carmen Rue said they never were given the contract to review or to vote on authorizing the mayor to sign. "That contract was completely illegal," Rue said.

Rue said it was illegal to combine the two departments without a local law. She said the code enforcement office will move back to Village Hall next week.

Rue, Doug Solomon and Jill Weyer voted to void the contract; Larissa Bennett abstained, and Mayor Gordon Jenkins was opposed. Solomon and Weyer were elected March 18, on the Monticello United ticket, and so were not on the board when the original resolution was approved. The new anti-Jenkins majority has, since being seated, been rescinding many of the controversial mayor's policies and hiring decisions.

Jenkins said he wanted to save money by consolidating jobs — the village paid Snowden an extra $15,000 yearly to run the building and the parks, rather than hire someone else, which Jenkins said would cost closer to $35,000. He said there wasn't enough room for the department in Snowden's old Village Hall digs, anyway. "It's not even as big as a closet," he said.

Jenkins argued the move was legal and approved by the last board, and the new board should look into the issue more before voting.

"It's not about liking someone and disliking them and taking their job away and taking their head off," he said.

Rue suggested the decision to hire Snowden, who is friendly with Jenkins, was more about helping a friend than finances.

"The mayor says 'I'm going to create more jobs' "¦ He's not creating a job, he's giving to his friend the extra job," she said.